RPKJr429 wrote:Dealing from a position of strength is always better than drafting for a specific need.

With having late first round picks, its pretty remarkable how many highly rated D prospects we have in the system. And as its been said in this thread before: Shero can always move pieces to fill specific holes with NHL-ready talent whenever he sees fit.

I'm not sure he can. Specific examples everyone uses around here are clear example of NHL ready an a few years in the league "prospects" being dealt.

I'm not sure I understand this. What do the Pens need? Certainly not top six forwards. They've got Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Kunitz, Dupuis, and Bennett for years. They've also got Jokinen this year. They don't need to make another Kunitz/Neal type trade anytime soon. I agree, their D prospects now aren't going to get them that kind of forward right now. I'd wager that in a few years, they have Letang and Despres anchoring the D, and someone like Maata or Pouliot will be considered excess and can be used to get them a young F as Kunitz and Dupuis age.

The Pens' biggest needs at this moment are third and fourth line. You can get those kinds of guys through free agency and by trading picks and more minor prospects.

To your last point. Can we? We have swung and missed a bunch if times now in free agency and with the cap those types of players are not as easy to come by.

when we've needed bottom 6 players, we've always been successful at acquiring them. it's just that we haven't needed to go get anyone in quite some time - not with cooke-staal-tk being a fixture for so many years. we got sutter when we needed a staal replacement, and matt cooke when we needed a ruutu replacement. we also picked up adams, roberts, adam hall and laraque for very little a long time ago. the only whiff i can think of has been tanner glass. it's been a while, but i think shero's pretty good at finding these kind of diamonds in the rough.

I'm not sure I understand this. What do the Pens need? Certainly not top six forwards. They've got Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Kunitz, Dupuis, and Bennett for years. They've also got Jokinen this year. They don't need to make another Kunitz/Neal type trade anytime soon. I agree, their D prospects now aren't going to get them that kind of forward right now. I'd wager that in a few years, they have Letang and Despres anchoring the D, and someone like Maata or Pouliot will be considered excess and can be used to get them a young F as Kunitz and Dupuis age.

The Pens' biggest needs at this moment are third and fourth line. You can get those kinds of guys through free agency and by trading picks and more minor prospects.

To your last point. Can we? We have swung and missed a bunch if times now in free agency and with the cap those types of players are not as easy to come by.

when we've needed bottom 6 players, we've always been successful at acquiring them. it's just that we haven't needed to go get anyone in quite some time - not with cooke-staal-tk being a fixture for so many years. we got sutter when we needed a staal replacement, and matt cooke when we needed a ruutu replacement. we also picked up adams, roberts, adam hall and laraque for very little a long time ago. the only whiff i can think of has been tanner glass. it's been a while, but i think shero's pretty good at finding these kind of diamonds in the rough.

Fair enough but that was before this cap and a bunch of our guys carrying high salaries. Plus to be fair some of those signings were not cheap, were short term and their roles could have been filled pretty easily by cheaper and younger players.

And all your examples are old and slow (I kid I kid). But it would be better short term for cup chances if we could plug in younger, faster players on entry level deals. Some of the signings you cite above can't happen anymore due to new cap, our cap plus overall fallout from cap like less UfAs available.